Peek Pronto: low-cost e-mail and texting

Jake Widman
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 00:48

Your IT - Mobility

Peek, maker of the Peek mobile e-mail device, has introduce the Peek Pronto, which adds unlimited texting and push e-mail.

The Peek Pronto costs US$80 (the original model costs $50), but the service plan is only $20/month, with no contract. For that price, the device does unlimited push e-mail and text messaging, with e-mail search on the device; it is also supposedly compatible with Microsoft Exchange servers and allows the user to view images, PDFs, and Microsoft Word files. (The original Peek just does e-mail -- but it does come in more colors than the Pronto.)

The idea behind the Peeks is to buck the trend towards convergence and, instead, offer a limited-function device with a less expensive service plan to those who don't necessarily want their phone to be their e-mail device as well. The press release quotes Peek CEO Amol Sarva: "Now more than ever consumers and businesses need to stay connected, but paying $60 per month for unlimited email and texting is crazy."

Starting today, the Pronto is available exclusively through Amazon. In April it will go on sale at Radio Shack and through the company's website . The original version is also sold at Target and Costco.